In Another World
by purplepagoda
Summary: In another world... How would things be different now, if Kate hadn't really died? Alternate Universe.
1. Chapter 1

He sits on a bench in the foyer of his suburban home. He listens to the sound of rain hit the panes of glass nearby. He reaches down, and unlaces his shoes. He shoves his boots under the bench, and he vacates his seat. He takes a few steps, and then veers to his left. He enters the living room, and finds a blue TV screen. He flips off the television. As he moves forward he nearly eats the floor after tripping over a fire truck in the middle of the floor. He heads towards the couch. The living room is sparingly illuminated. A single bulb, from a lamp sitting on an end table at the end of the couch provides just enough light for him to see. He takes a seat on the end of the couch.

A three year old boy wearing superhero pajamas lies face down on the couch. His left hand dangles off the side of the couch. He carefully scoops the boy off the couch. The three year old presses his head against his shoulder. His dark brown ringlets tickle Tony's neck. Tony flips off the lamp, and carries the toddler up the stairs. He makes a right at the top of the stairs, and heads to the end of the hallway. He pushes the door open to a room that is lit with an airplane night light. He pulls down the covers of the bed, and carefully tucks the boy in. He plants a kiss on his cheek, and sits beside him, on the bed for a moment. He glances at the wall behind the bed. Letters adorn the wall above the headboard, reading, _Malachi_.

He vacates his seat on the bed, and exits the room. He heads into a room, adjacent to his son's. He pushes the door open, and enters the room with bright pink walls. He finds his daughter lying in her bed, with a book lying on her chest. He reaches out to turn off the lamp sitting on her bedside table. She feels fingers wrap around her wrist. He bends down, and plants a warm, wet kiss on her forehead. "Night, love you," he whispers. He flips off the light, and heads out of the room. He peels off his clothes the second that he reaches the master bedroom. He is too tired to take a shower. He climbs into bed in his boxer shorts, and a t-shirt. He rolls onto his side, and wraps his arms around the woman in his bed. His right hand comes to rest on her swollen abdomen. He kisses her temple, "Good night, Ziva."

* * *

Somewhere across town Gibbs tiptoes into his own master bedroom. Both lamps are on in the room. He approaches the bed, and finds a pair of feet resting on a pillow in the middle of the bed. A head rests, next to the feet, on the far side of the bed. His wife exits the bathroom in a pair of pajamas.

"Why are they in our bed, again?"

"They were waiting on you to get home," Hollis explains.

"Will you carry them to bed while I jump in the shower?"

"I'm not waking them up," she argues.

"Then, I'll get a shower, and we can sleep in Jackson's room," he suggests.

"His room smells."

"Like what, now?"

"It smells like glue from whatever project he was working on earlier."

"Now what is he up to?"

"He's seven, he doesn't even know most of the time."

"Then we can sleep in Jenny's room," he suggests.

"Fair enough," she agrees.

* * *

She collapses onto her bed, on top of the covers, wearing a black Metallica t-shirt. She rolls onto her side, and proceeds to roll her eyes at the party lying next to her.

"What are you doing here, again?" She queries.

"I don't know," he shrugs.

"Why do we keep doing this?"

"I don't know, Abby."

"Why is it that we keep coming back to each other?"

"Maybe, we're meant to be together."

"You really think that? After twelve years, not much has changed."

"Neither one of us is invested in a relationship," he argues.

"So you are perfectly content with casual sex?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Why are you here, in my apartment, again?"

"What do you mean?"

"You sleep here a lot. What is wrong with your place?"

"You're not there," he admits.

"I'm glad that you feel that way."

He furrows his brow, "Why is that?"

"Because we have to figure out just exactly what this is," she insists.

"Why? Up until now you insisted that you just wanted things to be casual. You said that you didn't want to put a label on things."

"Yes, but our lives were not as complicated then," she replies.

"Our lives aren't complicated now," Tim argues.

"I need an answer."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Why did you break up with Delilah?"

"You know why."

"I need you to quantify it for me."

"Abby, why does it matter?"

"Tim I need you to answer me."

"I just didn't want to be with her."

"That doesn't help me any," she growls.

"Can we just go to sleep, and talk about this later?" He reaches over her to turn the lamp off. She pushes him away.

"That was uncalled for."

"We can't talk about this later," she tells him as she reaches into the pocket of her hippo pajama bottoms.

"Why not?"

She tosses an object at him, it lands on his chest, "Because our lives just became complicated."

He stares blankly at the plastic stick lying on his chest, "What's this?"

"It is a pregnancy test."

"Wait, what?! You and I…" he begins to stutter, "It's only been… you can't be…" he tries to rationalize.

"I'm pregnant."


	2. Chapter 2

She exits the building in Langley, Virginia, and makes a beeline for her non-descript mid-size, silver, SUV. She unlocks the vehicle, and climbs inside. She turns up the radio, as she pulls out of her parking spot. She tucks her ID in a secret compartment, and heads towards the exit of the parking lot. She drives at a fast rate of speed, toward a suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of D.C. She pulls into her driveway before dark. She pulls the car into the garage. She exits the garage, and heads down the driveway. She closes the garage door, with the remote in the palm of her hand. She walks across the street. She passes two houses, and stops at the third. She heads down the walkway, eagerly awaiting the greeting she is about to receive. She raises her fist to knock on the door. The door flies open, and a nine year old girl steps onto the stoop. The brunette with bright hazel eyes wraps her arms around her.

"Mommy!" She rejoices.

"Are you ready to go?"

"I just have to grab my bag," she informs her.

She hears footsteps, and Tony appears in the doorway. He holds out a green backpack. He hands it to his daughter.

"Here you go, sweetie."

"Thanks, daddy."

"Thanks, for keeping her, this weekend."

"Kate, you know that I am happy to keep her any time. How was your conference?"

"As boring as they get," she stretches the truth.

"You look exhausted," he points out.

"I should get home. I have to get Addy ready for school tomorrow."

"Okay. Addy, I'll see you at your game tomorrow. Love you."

"Bye, daddy. Love you," she hugs him tightly.

* * *

He sits at the island in the kitchen, with a child on either side. His four year old daughter, Jenny sits to his right, coloring him a picture of a sailboat. Jackson sits to his left working on assembling a toy car. Jethro thumbs through the paper. He hears the sliding glass door open, and Hollis comes in from outside. She grabs a glass of water, and he folds the paper up. He surveys the room. Hollis picks up on the look in his eyes. She cocks her head, and asks, "What are you thinking about?"

"How differently things could have been."

She furrows her brow, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," he shakes it off.

That night after he exits Jackson's room, after tucking him in, he finds his wife waiting in the hallway.

"You don't have to ambush me," he points out.

"What were you thinking about earlier, when you were in the kitchen with the kids?"

"I was just thinking about our life."

"Is there something wrong?"

"No," he grins.

They head towards the master bedroom, "What were you thinking about?"

"I just can't help but wonder how things could have turned out differently."

"What do you mean?"

"What if Kate really had died?" he takes a seat on the end of the bed. She situates herself next to him.

"What do you mean?"

"What if Ari had succeeded in killing her?"

"I don't know? I never considered it."

"What if she hadn't chosen to fake her death in order to catch him?"

"Things would have turned out a lot differently."

"Yeah."

"You know you don't talk about that, much. What happened that day?"

"I saw her get shot, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I thought that it was real. It was so real. I didn't know that the CIA had any had in it."

"How long was it before you realized she wasn't really dead?"

"When she called me from the hospital months later. She broke cover, because she felt she had no choice. She explained what really happened, and asked for my advice."

* * *

 _February 16_ _th_ _, 2006-_

 _He enters the hospital room, and takes a seat next to the bed. He stares at Kate in utter disbelief. He shakes his head._

" _I know that you're angry, but I can explain."_

" _I thought that you were dead. You better have a good reason."_

" _Several months ago I was contacted by the CIA to be part of their team."_

" _So you ditched us for the CIA, and now that you're in trouble, you called me?"_

" _Not exactly. At first I turned them down."_

" _What made you change your mind?"_

" _Unforeseen complications."_

" _What unforeseen complications are you talking about?"_

" _I broke the rules."_

" _What rules?"_

" _I slept with my partner."_

" _What does that have to do with the CIA conspiracy to fake your death?"_

" _I needed a way out."_

" _Why? You couldn't handle it anymore?"_

" _I didn't want him to know."_

" _Didn't want him to know what?"_

" _I didn't want to have to explain a baby to him, or to you."_

 _He furrows his brow, "What are you talking about?"_

" _I left because I was pregnant."_

" _You had DiNozzo's baby?"_

* * *

"How is it that he ended up married to Ziva, instead of Kate?"

"They weren't compatible. They knew that in the long-term they could never make things work."

"How long was it before she told him about Addy?"

"A month."

"What was she so afraid of? He's great."

"He was a fool. He was very childish."

"Where do you think we would be if I hadn't gotten pregnant with Jackson?"

"You almost didn't tell me," he reminds her.

"I didn't want to, but I couldn't be that selfish."

"Do you remember how you told me?"

"Not my finest moment."

* * *

 _December 25_ _th_ _, 2007_

 _He scurries towards his front door, with a beer in his hand. He pulls open the door, and finds a familiar face staring back at him. The snow is flurrying around outside._

" _What are you doing here?"_

" _I…" she hesitates._

" _Come in, it's cold out there," he motions for her._

 _She enters the house, "Jethro last time I saw you…"_

 _He cuts her off, "Look I am really sorry for the way things went last time I saw you."_

" _It wasn't what I expected," she admits._

" _I never intended for anything to happen. I know that you moved on, I just…"_

 _She shakes her head, and cuts him off, "We can't take that night back."_

" _What are you doing here?" He cocks his head to the side._

" _Um…" she pauses, her eyes falling to the beer in his hand._

" _You want one?" He follows her line of sight._

" _Desperately," she nods._

" _I just opened this one, you can have it."_

 _She shakes her head, "I can't."_

" _Why not?"_

" _I don't want to intoxicate your spawn."_

 _He furrows his brow, "Come again?"_


	3. Chapter 3

He stares into his bowl of cereal in silence. She clears her throat. He sits on a stool at her kitchen table. He looks up at her.

"Did you say something?" He asks.

"Are you staying here, or are you going to bed?"

"What are we going to do?" He changes the subject.

"McGee, you can do whatever you want. I am going to go to bed."

"About the situation," he clarifies.

"I am going to have a baby," she answers, matter-of-factly.

"What does that mean for us?"

"It means that you're either in, or you're out."

"I just don't understand how this happened. We were so careful," He explains.

"Not as careful as you think."

"What do you mean?"

"I had to wrack by brain to figure out how it happened," she admits.

"And?"

"I carefully examined each piece of evidence."

"Did you find anything of interest?"

"The condoms that we have been using are expired."

"You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

Kate tucks her daughter into bed, kissing her forehead, as she reaches for the lamp.

"Mommy, wait."

"Yes, Addy?"

"You don't look happy," she exhales.

Kate stares at the precious face of her daughter, who is neatly tucked into her bed.

"Addy, what makes you say that?"

"You never smile, anymore."

"You make me happy."

Addy shakes her head, "Something is missing."

"Nothing is missing. You are all that I need."

"It's lonely here," she adds.

"Addy, what are you talking about?"

"It's so quiet. At daddy's house it is always noisy, and messy."

"You like noisy, and messy?"

"You work too much. We don't have enough fun," Addy continues.

"What do you suggest I do to have fun?"

Addy grins, "Go on a date."

"You want to have a date night?"

"Not with me, mommy!"

"Then, with who?"

"With a grown up."

"Why do you want me to go on a date?"

"Maybe then I could have a sister."

"Maybe your dad's new baby will be a girl."

* * *

He is lying in bed, working on the crossword puzzle when he hears bare feet smacking against the hardwood floor. A toddler appears in the doorway.

"What are you doing?"

"Miss me?"

"Of course," Ziva speaks up.

The three year old races across the room, and jumps onto the bed. Without a word he finds the center of the bed, and worms his way underneath the covers between Tony, and Ziva. Tony places his crossword puzzle on the night stand. He turns to his son.

"Malachi, can you tell me what it is that you're doing?"

"I am sleeping in here," he informs his dad.

"You are?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Just in case," Malachi answers.

Ziva puts her book on her bedside stand, and turns towards her son. "You can sleep in here," she kisses his cheek.

"Thanks, mommy."

"Whoa! Wait, a minute! I did not agree to this," Tony argues.

"Daddy, I don't want you to forget me!"

"Son, what are you talking about?"

"If the baby comes you have go to the hospital."

"Yes," he nods in agreement.

"What if you forget about me?"

"I won't forget about you. We talked about this, if mommy goes into labor, then I will come and get you out of your bed, and take you over to Kate's house."

"What if you are in a hurry?"

"I could never forget my little, turkey," he tickles him.

He giggles, "Stop!"

Tony stops, and Ziva reaches over, her hands hovering over the toddler.

"Mommy, no!"

She tickles him, and he laughs hysterically.

* * *

He lies in bed, with his glasses on his face. He reads the latest edition of _Boating Magazine_. Hollis exits the bathroom, wearing striped pajamas, and pulls back the covers. She climbs into bed, and reaches onto her night stand to grab her lotion. She pumps out a dollop of lotion, and begins rubbing it into her hands. As she rubs in the lotion she looks over at her husband. He stares at his magazine, but her glance does not go unnoticed.

"What is on your mind?"

"Nothing," she fibs.

"Something," he argues.

"It's nothing," she insists.

He puts his magazine down, and turns his full attention to her.

"What is it?"

"How did we end up being so lucky?"

"I don't know," he shrugs.

"Who would have ever anticipated that I would have gotten pregnant with Jackson at forty six? How does that happen?"

"It was just meant to be, I guess."

"And everything went so smoothly."

"We have been very fortunate."

"And neither one of us thought that we would use the embryos that we banked after we had Jackson. I certainly didn't think that you would be the one that wanted to have another child."

He grins, "Life is full of surprises. What would we do without her?"

"I would be completely surrounded by testosterone, and wooden models."

"Hollis, where is this going?"

"It is a long shot…"

"What is?"

"Is it selfish of me to do have one more? They are both so incredible."

"We have two perfect pancakes, why would you want to tempt fate? We're not getting any younger, and we don't even know if it would…"

"I haven't gone off the deep end. I don't want to get pregnant again."

He furrows his brow, "I don't understand."

"I have been thinking about adoption a lot lately."

* * *

He lies in the dark, and listens to her breathe. He states at the ceiling, and feels the anxiety increasing with each passing second. With no notice he is hit in the gut with a pillow.

"What was that for?"

Abby exhales, "Take your anxiety somewhere else."

"I'm sorry. I am just anxious about all of this."

"You don't have to do anything."

"There are so many things that could go wrong, and…"

"Couch!"

"Abby!"

"If you don't want to do this you can go home."

"I never said that."

"Why are you being such a spaz?"

"What if I'm not any good at this?"

She rolls her eyes, "Why don't you take your negativity, and self-doubt to the other room?"

"I'm sorry."

"I am trying to sleep."

"Fine," he rolls out of the bed.


	4. Chapter 4

She sits in the bathroom, on the edge of the bathtub wearing a towel. She waits as the tub fills with water. She reflects on her day. She had to agree with Addy, she does work too much. She shakes her head, at the observational powers of her nine year old daughter. She feels a pang of guilt that her daughter has mistaken her uncertainty for unhappiness. She turns off the faucet with her left hand. She feels herself going numb. She stares blankly at the water. She blinks, and turns the attention to the object in her right hand.

* * *

He's lying in a puddle of drool, on his pillow, with a pair of three year old feet in his face, when he feels himself being shaken into consciousness. He opens his eyes, and finds that his wife is not lying next to him anymore. He rolls onto his back, and finds her standing over him. He yawns.

"What's wrong?"

"It's time to go," she informs him.

He glances at the clock, "Ziva, it's three o'clock in the morning. It's not time for me to get up for work."

"Tony, we need to take Malachi over to Kate's. I already texted her."

"It's time?!" His eyes widen.

"Let's go! I already started the car."

"Okay, let me put on some pants."

He hops out of bed, and pulls on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He scoops his three year old out of bed, and carefully follows his wife down the stairs. She settles into the car as he walks across the neighborhood, with a pajama-clad three year old. He reaches Kate's house, and knocks on the door. She pulls the door open wearing pajamas, and a robe. She stands in the doorway, sans make-up, and for the first time he notices how exceedingly tired she looks. She forces a smile, and slips the toddler out of his arms. He kisses the boy on the forehead, and returns to his driveway. Kate closes, and locks the door, and carries the toddler up to her room. She tucks him in bed next to her. With the lamp from her bedside stand she looks at the toddler. She reflects on how simple things were when Addy was his age.

Her eyes were always full of wonder, and her face was always full of joy. She was sweet, and snuggly, and never wanted Kate to leave her. She would wail the second that Kate would move toward the door. She breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that within seconds Tony had comforted her, and she stopped crying. She glances at Malachi, and shakes her head.

"Who would have thought he would be such a natural?"

* * *

It has been a couple of weeks since Abby has revealed the news to McGee. She has done her best to keep the news under wraps, until a more appropriate time. She looks up from her computer, as her spidey-senses begin to tingle. She turns around, and finds Gibbs moving towards her with a cup of Caf-Pow. He sits it down next to her.

"What have you got for me?"

"I finished the ballistics, and the shell casings are a match to the Lieutenant Commander's service weapon."

"Abby?"

"Huh?"

"Why aren't you drinking? You usually have that half gone by now."

"I am just cutting back," she answers.

He furrows his brows, "You're ninety nine percent caffeine," he points out.

"I found plant matter on the Lieutenant Commander's boot that puts him in Florida within the past week."

"Hmm… seems like you're trying to change the subject."

"And, there was a wing embedded in the tread of his shoe which matches an insect which is native to Florida. Can I get a drumroll, please?"

"When did you find out?" He squints.

"The computer just confirmed a couple of minutes ago."

"I'm not talking about the case."

"I am not ready to talk about that, yet."

* * *

He sits down at the dinner table, and finds that his wife is the only one present. He furrows his brow, and looks up at Hollis.

"Where are the kids?"

"They are playing downstairs."

"Did they already eat?"

"Yes."

"We usually eat together," he points out.

"You know how you agreed to send in some information to that adoption agency?"

"Yeah," he nods.

"They called earlier today."

"Let me guess, they think that we're too old?"

She grins, "No."

"They need us to fill out more paperwork?"

"Nope," she shakes her head.

"So, what?"

"They wanted to let us know that we passed our background checks."

"Obviously."

"And they stopped by today to do a home visit."

"Already?" He cocks an eyebrow.

"You never told me whether you would want a boy, or a girl."

"I thought it was a long shot," he admits.

"I know."

"I don't have any preference," he answers.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he nods, "Why?"

"How long do you think that it would take to dig the nursery stuff out of the garage?"

"It is all labeled, so it shouldn't take too long."

"There is a seventeen year old in Virginia, who is a senior in high school. She wants to become a Marine."

"And?"

"She wants to place her baby with us. She is due next week."

"What?!"

"I will understand if you think that it's too soon. You probably want a boy, anyway. I told them that it was something that we would have to discuss."

"We need to discuss it with the kids. I'm fine with it."

"Really?!"

"Yeah," he grins, "As long as I get to name her."

* * *

Kate sits in Tony's living room, and watches as Addy holds her new sibling. Addy studies the baby boy carefully. She looks up, and grins. Ziva enters the room, and takes a seat next to Tony, on the couch. Malachi sits on the floor playing with blocks.

"I thought that you had already landed on a name," Kate points out.

"We had narrowed it down to Ezekiel David for a boy, and Sariah Hope for a girl," Tony explains.

"When he came out nothing fit," Ziva adds.

"And you haven't been able to land on anything after two weeks?" Kate questions.

Malachi looks up at her, and grins, "I said Thomas."

"Like the train," Tony adds.

Addy sits next to Tony, with her eye locked on the sleeping baby. "Gabriel," she whispers. He opens his eyes, and looks up at her.

"What did you just say?" Ziva asks.

"Gabriel," Addy answers.


	5. Chapter 5

Abby sits on Kate's couch. Addy is with Tony. Kate looks over at Abby, and instantly notices her facial expression.

"Abby what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she fibs.

"You are being unusually quiet. What's bothering you?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," she nods in agreement.

"How did you get enough courage to tell Tony about Addy?"

"It wasn't easy. I was afraid to tell him. I was scared that he would flake. I was supposed to be dead, and I didn't think that it would go well at all. I didn't know if he would want to be a part of her life. I didn't think that he was going to have any interest whatsoever. When I got to his place I stood outside his door forever. I thought that I had made a huge mistake."

"What made you decide to go in?"

She grins, "He had ordered pizza. I paid the pizza guy, and knocked on the door. I knew that he was expecting a pizza. He grabbed the pizza, and as he was fishing his wallet out he realized that I was standing there."

* * *

 _March 18_ _th_ _, 2006_

 _He opens the door, and grabs the pizza box as his stomach growls, it is nearly ten o'clock. He reaches into his pocket, and fishes for his wallet. His mind catches up with him. Before he can look up he hears a familiar face._

" _I paid for your pizza."_

 _He looks up, and finds Kate standing in his doorway. She stands in front of him holding a baby swaddled in a pink thermal blanket. She expects him to react poorly, to scream, and yell at her. He doesn't. He smiles._

" _You should come in," he insists._

 _She enters the apartment, and he places the pizza on his table._

" _Are you hungry?"_

" _No, I already ate."_

 _He closes the door behind her. He motions for her to take a seat. She takes a seat on the couch. He hovers over her, staring at the baby in her arms._

" _What's her name?"_

" _Addy," she smiles._

" _She's beautiful," he admits._

" _Do you want to hold her?"_

" _Yeah," he takes a seat next to her. She puts the sleeping baby in his arms. He scrutinizes the little girl's facial features._

" _How old is she?"_

" _She was born on February 16_ _th_ _," she reveals._

" _I thought you were dead," he says calmly._

" _I needed a way out. The CIA…"_

 _He nods, "Of course. It seemed so real, every bit of it. I was there."_

" _It's complicated."_

" _It always is."_

" _I don't know how to say this, so I am just going to come out with it…"_

 _He cuts her off, "She's mine. I can see that, Kate. The poor girl has my ears."_

* * *

"Why are you asking about this?"

"What if he hadn't been a good father? What would you have done?"

She shrugs, "I guess I would have raised her on my own."

"How are things going with your Navy Seal?"

Kate falls silent.

"Kate?"

"I received word a few weeks ago," she admits.

"Received word?" Abby responds.

"He was killed in action," she answers.

"I am so sorry."

"It is okay, I don't really want to talk about it, right now. Can we talk about you, instead? What is new, and exciting with you?"

"McGee has been rather anxious lately," she replies.

"What did you do to him?"

"It isn't what I did to him. It is really more about what we did together."

"Which is what?"

"I'm pregnant."

"What?!"

* * *

He holds a brand new baby girl in his arms. He stands over the basinet in the corner of the master bedroom. He grins at the two day old girl. He turns, and finds his wife staring at him.

"I've got it, you can go back to sleep."

"I don't mind."

"Neither do I," he watches the baby as she works on draining the bottle in her mouth.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Hollis suggests.

"You are going to pry her away from me, aren't you?"

"Joely thinks that you might be tired."

He rolls his eyes, and takes a seat next to Hollis on the bed, "I think she is more focused on her bottle."

"I want her."

He gives in, and passes the sheepish baby over to his wife.

* * *

He tiptoes into the bedroom from his bathroom. He finds the TV on from the movie his family was watching before he crawled into the shower. His daughter is sound asleep on his side of the bed, lying upside down. Malachi lays next to her, with the back of his hand laying against her. His wife lays on her side of the bed, with a drooling baby sleeping on her chest. Gabriel's ear is pressed against her chest. He grabs his phone off the bedside stand and snaps a picture. He sends it in a message to Kate.

* * *

She has just pulled on her pajamas when she hears her phone vibrate. She is the bathroom applying moisturized, and her hair is wet. She brushes her teeth, and heads for the exit. She flips off the light, and heads into the bedroom. Her lamp illuminates the room. She grabs her phone off the bedside stand, and reads the message from Tony. The picture message says, _Can you believe this motley crew is asleep by nine o'clock?_ She responds to him, _That will be you in five minutes._ He doesn't respond to her text message. She assumes he is already sawing logs. She pulls back her covers, and crawls into bed. She leans against the headboard, thinking of the events of the past few weeks. She thinks about the phone call weeks ago informing her that her current beau, Joseph was killed in action. They had met at a conference nearly a year before. Things were starting to get serious. She was about to introduce him to her daughter. They had talked about the future, and at the funeral his mother told her he had bought her a ring. She reaches over, and opens the drawer of the bedside stand. She pulls out a box. She opens the box and an engagement ring stares up at her. The tears start to roll down her cheeks as he places the box on the top of the nightstand. She reaches inside, and pulls out a different object. Her warm, silent tears quickly morph in to violent sobs.


End file.
